Another two shootings have been reported inside Seattle’s ‘cop free’ autonomous zone, just a day after a 19-year-old man was killed and another was critically injured inside the protest area before angry crowds blocked police from getting in to help them.
One person was taken to the hospital with injuries after the shooting on Sunday night and the Seattle Police Department said it had received unconfirmed reports that a second shooting had taken place.
It came within hours of a double shooting on Saturday that left one person critically injured and killed 19-year-old rapper, Lorenzo Anderson.
The shooter in both incidents is yet to be identified and no one has been taken into custody.
There are mixed reports that the Saturday shooting was the result of a personal dispute between the gunman and the victim.
Some, however, like socialist local politician Kshama Sawant who has urged the autonomous zone on since the beginning, claim it was a ‘right wing attack’.
The shootings have presented a test for those inside and for the authorities being kept out of it.
Police on Saturday said they tried to get to the victims but were met with a crowd of angry protesters who screamed at them.
The fire department also says it was unable to gain access to put the victims in ambulances because EMTs are not trained to extract patients from hostile crowds.
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Nineteen-year-old rapper Lorenzo Anderson was shot and killed on Saturday inside the autonomous zone in Seattle. His killer is yet to be arrested and there are mixed reports over their motive; some say it was a personal dispute, others are calling it a right wing attack
Police entered the zone on Saturday after the shooting and said they were trying to get help to the victims but they were met with angry crowds
The crowds screamed at police officers as they made their way through the zone
On Saturday, EMTs said they were initially unable to go inside to retrieve patients because they were not trained in extracting people from hostile situations.
Those on the inside say they are not hostile and that it was merely another example of police and fire departments not responding quickly enough to the death of a young black man.
Sawant has not explained why she thinks Anderson’s death was a ‘right wing attack’.
She said in a statement: ‘Though we await confirmation of the details of the killing, there are indications that this may have been a right-wing attack.
‘It is no accident that right-wing hate and violence has grown dramatically with Donald Trump in the White House.
‘If this killing turns out to be a right-wing attack, President Trump bears direct responsibility, since he has fomented reactionary hatred specifically against the peaceful Capitol Hill occupation, and even threatened to intervene with federal troops.’
An unverified video posted on Live Leak shows someone from inside the zone begging EMTs in an ambulance to go inside to ‘save’ an injured person.
It is unclear when the video was filmed – if it was after Saturday or Sunday’s shooting – or who filmed it.
In the footage, an EMT is heard on his radio saying they had not been cleared for entry.
The man who filmed it pleaded with him that he had been cleared and begged him to drive in.
The first shooting was reported to police at 2.30am on Saturday.
They went to the park where it happened but say they were met ‘with a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims.’
EMTs were yelled at in one video by a man who begged them to go into the free zone to save the people who had been shot. The fire department said the EMTs were not trained to go into hostile situations to extract patients
The cops say they then later found out that the two victims had been taken to the hospital. It’s unclear how they got there.
Video released by the Seattle Police Department shows officers trying to make their way through the crowds, telling them they wanted to get aide to the victims, but being met by angry, yelling protesters.
Some screamed profanities at them whereas others stood quietly with their hands up in surrender.
Others inside screamed at the officers that the victim ‘had gone’.
It’s unclear if they meant that the victim had died or had been taken to the hospital. The protesters then started chanting ‘black lives matter’.
The Seattle Fire Department said its EMTs could not safely get access.
The ‘free zone’ was set up several weeks ago after days of protests in the area.
The crowds overran the police precinct there, sending cops who were inside fleeing.
It was at first peaceful and saw people watching movies in the street and ordering vegan pizza.
As time has worn on, some say the message of the protest has gotten lost. Two members of the African American Community Advisory Council were booed when they tried to tell protesters that the message had been ‘hijacked’.
Among causes that are now being pushed inside is higher tax for Amazon.
The autonomous zone on June 20, the day Lorenzo was shot and killed and one other was injured
James Madison, left, carries a rifle as he walks with Javi Cordero, inside the free zone
Friends of Lorenzo Anderson gather at a tribute to him on June 20
Protesters inside the autonomous zone carry a religious preacher out
Over the weekend, protesters tackled a street preacher who was part of a group of religious demonstrators
A man takes a photo over a blockade at the Capitol Hill protests in downtown Seattle. The zone has been blocked off to police now for weeks